Sunoco Pipeline workers use concrete to fill a sinkhole in East Whiteland Township that was likely created by drilling for Sunoco’s Mariner East 2 pipeline.
SUBMITTED PHOTO

WEST WHITELAND >> State Sen. Andy Dinniman, D-19, said officials and inspectors from the federal Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration visited Lisa Drive on Monday where three sinkholes have opened up on a residential block, apparently due to construction of Sunoco Pipeline’s Mariner East 2 pipeline.

“Officials from PHMSA, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection and the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission were on-site to inspect the situation and determine a course of action,” the senator said.

Dinniman has been a vocal critic of the project’s environmental and public safety dangers.

“We expect a decision in the next 24 to 48 hours from state and federal officials,” he said. “That could include a suspension on drilling Mariner East 2 and/or a temporary halt on the transmission of natural gas liquids in the Mariner East 1.”

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“They are taking the situation very seriously and considering their options,” Dinniman said.

A $1.3 million fix is warranted on Route 29 where sinkholes have encroached on the roadway.

“No one should have put a pipeline in,” Dinniman said. “This is a limestone geologic formation and we know that it sinks.

“We know these are problematic.”

This latest development comes just one day after Dinniman organized a community meeting in West Whiteland where he was joined by nearly 200 residents concerned about the pipeline project’s impacts and potential threats to their safety, as well as property and environmental rights.

At that meeting, community groups announced that they are closing in on the remaining funds needed to obtain an independent risk assessment of the project, with officials from several nearby municipalities pledging support.

Earlier in the week, Dinniman, who serves on the Senate Environmental Resources and Energy Committee, had also reemphasized concerns that the region’s underlying karst geologic formation could make continued drilling risky.

So far, construction of the Mariner East 2 pipeline has resulted in the contamination of almost two-dozen wells, damage to aquifers, and the development of multiple sinkholes that threaten private homes.

Two of the sinkholes on Lisa Drive are located about 250 feet from Amtrak’s Keystone Line.

As a result of the development of the two latest sinkholes over the weekend, a home was evacuated and Sunoco apparently has attempted to treat the problem by filling them in with concrete.

Dinniman said federal officials from PHMSA are now involved because the sinkholes apparently exposed a portion of the 1930s-era Mariner East 1 pipeline, which carries highly volatile natural gas liquids, mainly ethane and butane.

Dinniman also said that he understands that Sunoco did not follow proper notification protocols when the additional sinkholes appeared and exposed the Mariner East 1 pipeline. He said Sunoco had an obligation to notify PHMSA and the PUC as well, but only notified DEP.

“The Mariner East 2 project has been riddled with problems from the beginning. I’d call it a ‘comedy of errors,’ but there’s nothing funny about it,” he said. “In fact, it is deadly serious – the very health, safety, and well-being of our communities are at stake.

“We hope that federal involvement will bring real oversight, thorough inspection, and much-needed scrutiny to this project because time and time again, DEP and the current administration at the state-level have shown that they are simply not up to the job.”

A Sunoco spokesperson responded with a news release Sunday, after the sinkholes were filled in with concrete.

“We did take immediate action (Saturday) to successfully stabilize and mitigate three areas along our right-of-way,” reads the release. “There was a total of two properties involved. We injected an approved liquid concrete mix or sometimes referred to as ‘flowable fill’ into holes that were created by soil movement.

“This action has been completed and all areas have been secured. We have been in close communication with DEP, the township and importantly, the landowners. We continue to be on-site to monitor the situation and begin restoration efforts.”